


The Bus Stop

by starofsorrow



Category: Let's Play (Webcomic)
Genre: F/M, Kidnapping
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-08-06
Updated: 2020-08-27
Packaged: 2021-03-05 21:34:02
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 6
Words: 13,736
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/25742152
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/starofsorrow/pseuds/starofsorrow
Summary: After an argument with Charles, Sam gets on a bus, unaware of what was to come in the near future.
Relationships: Charles Jones/Sam Young (Let's Play)
Comments: 13
Kudos: 85





	1. The Argument that Started it all

**Author's Note:**

> This was largely inspired by fellow chatters in the Let's Play discord server. Enjoy...? Heh?

Lunch was largely silent between two people at the table. Neither one wanted to speak. The atmosphere in the air was uncomfortable, and both wanted out as soon as possible. As their forks clinked on the plate signifying a finish to their meal, a waitress nervously walked up to the table, peering at the stormy faces of Charles and Sam. 

“E-ehem, would y-you two like some d-d-dessert?” Charles glared at the waitress, making her draw back slightly, then moved the glare over at Sam, eyes narrowed further at her.

“Well, Miss Young, would you like some dessert? Or shall we finish this meal?” Samara, staring at her plate the entire time the meal and holding her fork, snapped. She slammed her fork down, causing the waitress to jump slightly. She looked up at Charles, her face full of fury.

“No, I am done. Thank you, Mr. Jones. I will be taking my leave now. Good day.” She scooped up her belongings, and quickly walked out, ignoring everyone’s stares in the restaurant. The waitress whimpered slightly and turned her head to look at Charles, wishing she could be anywhere except here. Charles sat there, stone-faced, and dabbed his mouth with his napkin, placing it down on the table none-too-gently.

“Well, I suppose that answers your question, Miss. May I have the cheque, please?” He turned to look up at the waitress, his eyes full of anger. The waitress gulped and nodded quickly, scurrying away. Moments later, she reappeared with the cheque, giving Charles a chance to pay. Once the tab was settled, Charles stood up, picked up his briefcase, and stormed out of the restaurant. He briefly glanced around the street for Sam. He was able to catch her head bobbing up and down amongst the crowds, largely due to his height.

“Cachu! Ugh.” Charles muttered to himself, starting to make his strides towards Sam, with intent to finish out their argument.

* * *

Samara walked quickly, not paying much attention to her surroundings with her mind full of fury. She did not want to recall the argument, especially as it was over a matter that was extremely personal to her, her freedom. Against her will, her memories came up briefly-

_“Samara, I must insist. I do not feel comfortable having you take public transportation every day to here and back.” Charles’s tone was progressively getting louder, making Sam flush in anger._

_“Charles, I have made myself clear time and time again. I am NOT going to depend on you or anyone for rides. I’m perfectly fine taking the bus. You are just going to have to deal with it.” Charles narrowed his eyes at Sam’s response, growling slightly._

_“Fine. You leave me no choice, then. I shall have to take this discussion up with your father, Miss Young. I’m sure he would agree with me that public transportation is no longer safe, especially after the events that happened on other buses last week.” Samara’s eyes widened at Charles’s threat, pausing in breath for a moment._

_“You would not. You better not. I have told you; I am FINE. The assaults happened on other buses that were nowhere near my routes.” Charles shook his head, indicating that he was not going to listen to this any further._

_“We are done. I will be taking this up with your father. Now, let’s eat.”_

Samara growled under her breath, shaking her head. She looked around for her bus stop and saw that there was a bus standing at the stop. She quickly walked there and got up on the bus. The doors closed quickly, and the bus pulled away.

* * *

Following Sam, Charles saw the brown-haired head had hopped on the bus. His eyes widened and narrowed a second later. She better not have gotten on the bus just to spite him. He hurried up to the stop, attempting to make it to the stop before the bus took off.

Unfortunately, for Charles, he was a little too late. With the bus departing, Charles growled and his hands balled into fists as if he was ready to punch something or someone. He took a few deep breaths, noting the bus number and then glancing at the bus stop route that was on the pole. Wait…. something was off. He frowned, studying the schedule. This was not a typical route for that bus. The bus numbers did not match up.

Charles’s face paled as he looked up at the disappearing bus. He quickly memorized the license plate while pulling out his phone to dial the bus stop office number listed on the pole.

“This is the LA Metro Bus offices; how may I help you?” A voice came from the cell phone, Charles’s heart quickening.

“Hello. I had a question about the bus that was just at the bus stop. It was the bus number 6, at the Park Avenue and……. Rock Rose Boulevard.” Charles spoke quickly, glancing at the street signs. “Does the number six stop at this particular stop?” Charles held his breath, waiting for the answer.

“……...No, I’m sorry, Sir. You may have mistaken the bus number. The only buses that serve that stop are buses number five, nine, and one-hundred-one.” .” Charles cursed under his breath, running his hand through his hair which completely mussed it up.

“Cachu! I was afraid of that. Could you please look up this license plate, just to be sure I didn’t misread the number?” Charles waited for the affirmation, then repeated the license plate that was on that bus and waited for the search to complete.

“…...That can’t be right…..Sir….are you quite sure that is the correct plate number?” Charles sighed, nodding to no one, then lightly smacked his forehead and answered verbally in the affirmative. “That bus is supposed to be at the repair yard for malfunctioning doors. They keep locking up. I will need to look into this. Did anyone get on the bus?” Charles paled even further, causing some people to stop and look at him out of concern.

“……. Yes. My girlfriend….”


	2. The Disappearance

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you! I had a friend beta read for me with corrections, so I also updated the first chapter with corrections, too. Nothing that changes the flow of the story, mind you, but I wanted to make everything more cohensive.

Not paying attention to her surroundings, Sam paid her fare and sat at a seat near the middle doors. She looked up and finally looked around the bus, not noticing anything out of ordinary. She stared out of the window, thinking back to her argument with Charles.

_“Well, if you’re going to tell my father, then I’m not going to your place anymore. Nor will you be welcome at my apartment.” Sam looked at Charles, flatly saying what was on her mind, steeling her nerves. She truly hated confrontation, but she really needed to stand her ground, especially when it came to things that were important to her such as her freedom._

_“So be it. I would rather be assured of your safety than to worry about you every time you partake in the public transportation around LA.” Charles cleared his throat, adjusting his tie. “If it must be any of your friends picking you up, including that philistine, what was his name, Link? At any rate, if it must be any of your friends, I would acquiesce to your choice aside from public transportation.” With that, Charles looked up at Sam, his eyes boring icily into Sam._

_“………I’m done with this.” Right at that time, the food had arrived, courtesy of the nervous waitress. Poor waitress. She must have been a bundle of nerves after witnessing their disagreement at the table. That had never happened before._

Sam blinked out of her recollections, feeling a hand on the back of her neck Which caused uncomfortable and unwelcome goosebumps on her arms and neck. “What was - oof!” She blanked out after feeling a blow land on her head.

* * *

Charles hung up the phone with the bus offices, taking in a breath. His mind was running in all directions, trying to figure out what the next steps would be best in his shoes. The investigators at the bus offices had promised that they would report the theft of the bus to the police along with the information that Charles had supplied. And with luck, the police would hopefully find out where the whereabouts of the bus was. However, time was of essence. Sam was in danger. Her father was going to have Charles’s neck for this. They hadn’t even told Mr. Young that they were dating yet, either.

Charles stared down at his phone, trying to think of other avenues that he could take aside from calling his boss. His shoulders slumped a bit, and he sighed, shaking his head. He was going to have to make the call, after all. This was not going to be a pleasant conversation. He turned back and walked swiftly to the valet to retrieve his car. As he walked back, he punched in the number for Mr. Young…

* * *

Sam slowly woke up in complete darkness, her head pounding. What had happened? And why couldn’t she move her arms…. or legs? She experimentally pulled her arms and winced as she felt the binding on her wrists behind her back. She then slowly wriggled her legs, and found them bound, as well. Great. She was blind and bound tightly. She sniffed at the air, trying to figure out if she could catch any familiar scents, but the scent that was only coming back at her was the scent of wood, metal, and something…unidentifiable? 

Something to her left clattered, making Samara move her head in that direction, nervous as to what to expect. This couldn’t be good, could it? After all, she was apparently tied up and most likely in an unfamiliar location, and she had no idea what was going on. Then she heard a scraping sound coming closer to her, making her tense up. Some warmth ended up near her, setting her goosebumps off and she could hear somebody sitting in the chair silently.  
  
It was then she noticed a smoke, cigarette smoke, and she coughed, trying to keep her breathing under control. She realized that she was going to need her inhaler soon, and she wasn’t sure where her belongings were currently. She hesitated, in the middle of her coughing, and tried to build up courage to speak up first.

“S-somebody… _cough_ I-I need my inhaler. It’s in my _cough_ bag. P-please…”

* * *

“WHERE IS MY PUMPKIN, JONES?! IF SHE’S HARMED YOU WILL BE-“ Charles winced, pulling the phone away from his ear. Yup. This was NOT going to be a pleasant call at all. He immediately regretted making the call in the first place. Maybe he should have gone to the office first, then dealt with the explosion there. Or, perhaps not.... Either way, he was dead meat. He waited for his boss to stop screeching at him in the car, taking in slow breaths, exhaling slowly. Once the screaming had stopped, Charles put his phone back to his ear.

“Sir, I do deeply apologize. I lost track of her when she entered the bus. I called the bus office, and it appears that the bus was not supposed to be out on the route. They are currently tracking down the whereabouts of the bus.” Charles winced as he heard an explosion of cursing on the other end of the line, rubbing his forehead. Wasn’t there anything he could do, aside from calling the police? He had already left his contact information with the bus offices with instructions to contact him as soon as they located the missing bus. He frowned deeply, racking his brain on what to do next.

“Jones. JONES. _JONES!_ ” Charles snapped back to the phone conversation he was on with Samuel and grimaced. “Get your ass back to the office, pronto. We are going to figure this out. I swear, if anything happens to my pumpkin, you are _dead._ ” Charles silently groaned, hanging his head on the steering wheel. He was still in a parking lot, having driven to a lot nearby after he received the car from the valet.

“Yes, sir. I will be there. I do, however, need to end the call so I can focus on driving.” He waited a few moments and ended his call. Today was starting to look like one of the worst days of his life, aside from his discovering Gwen in their bed with his friend. He ran his hands through his hair, mussing it up yet again, and groaned deeply. What next?

He pressed the start button on his car, and started off towards the Young Technologies building, his dread growing exponentially as he got closer to the building.

* * *

Samara’s pleas had finally gotten someone to put the inhaler in her mouth so she could take a few puffs. As it became easier for her to breathe again, she panted a bit and looked around blindly, the blindfold still on. It had taken her captors a while to understand what she was asking for. She truly believed that her lips must have been turning blue by the time they figured out what was going on. It seemed like they were not aware of who she was…which could be a good thing? Or maybe not…Sam’s brows tented in worry, wishing that she hadn’t boarded the bus. Clearly something was going on, especially if she was still tied up. She shivered a bit, wondering how long it had been.

Her stomach rumbled, signaling that it had been quite a while since she had last eaten. Samara was also very thirsty, and bit her lips in worry, not sure what to expect next. Suddenly she heard a thud near her, making her jump slightly. She then felt a wetness at her lips, pressing her lips closed tightly.

“Drink, woman. It’s just water.” She could hear a deep voice near her, almost growly. She shivered in fear, and opened her lips a bit, allowing the stranger to tip the cup on her lips to drink water. All too soon, the water was taken away from her lips, leading her to gasp a bit.

“W-who are you?” She whispered meekly, and felt a hand on her jaw, pressing in so tightly that she winced in pain.  
  
“Shut up if you know what’s good for you.” She was shoved back, her back hitting a mattress, and she heard footsteps leading away from her. She began to shake, wondering when she was going to be able to get out of her situation.

* * *

Charles came back to an office in uproar, all the staff bombarding him with questions about Samara, if he had any updates, what had happened, why did she get on the bus, and more. Charles was quickly becoming overwhelmed with all the questions being thrown in his directions, until he heard a booming voice.  
  
“JONES. My office. Now.” All the staff shut up quickly and looked over at Samuel with apprehension. The man had a very stormy expression on his face. It looked like he was out for blood. Charles gulped a bit, and held up his hands at the other staff, quickly interjecting.

“I need to meet with Mr. Young, so please go back to your work. However, if you should happen to hear anything regarding Miss Young, please do let us know.” Samuel stared at Charles silently, expressionless, and waited for Charles make his way towards him. All the employees nodded, and slowly went back to work, trying not to look at what was about to take place. Charles straightened his back and walked into Samuel’s office, jumping a bit as he felt and heard the door slam so loudly that the walls rattled.

Samuel walked around Charles, and sat at his desk, glaring at him. “Jones. Explain yourself. Now.” Charles’s mouth dried up, and he sweat dropped a bit, worried about his boss’s behavior. He had never seen his boss this angry.

“Jones. Again, explain yourself. Now, before I do something we will both _regret._ ” Samuel growled out. Charles cleared his throat and began at his story, from when they were at the restaurant….

* * *

How long has it been since she had been in here? When was the last time she had something to drink? Samara couldn’t remember, feeling extremely stiff. She had been bound up for so long, that her arms were aching. She coughed slightly, trying not to develop another attack. She couldn’t afford to ask for her inhaler again. She needed to make sure her breathing was controlled as much as possible. She really should have done those breathing exercises that Jay told her to keep up with. It would have been handy for sure. 

She heard footsteps again, coming closer to her. She braced herself for whatever would happen and felt her arms being pulled up, forcing her to stand up.   
  
“We’re going to move you. Behave and you won’t be hurt badly.” There was that deep voice again. She tried to breathe in and out again, and the person on her right arm shook her, prompting her to nod that she had understood their orders. She was taken to another room, and in the process, she tripped on her own feet. The person on each side of her body held her up in place. They tightened their grips to the point where it was extremely painful which caused Sam to whimper.

“Shut up. Sit down.” Samara was suddenly shoved into a chair, the back of chair hitting her back and arms roughly. “We’re going to take your arms out and tie it in front. Do not try anything, understood?” She shuddered and nodded, tears welling up behind her blindfold. Her arms were unbound, moved to the front, then tied up again. She then suddenly felt someone place an inhaler in her hands. Then suddenly, she felt her legs being tied to the legs of the chair, and her chest being bound to the back of the chair, and she gasped in fear, wondering what was going to happen.

“Behave, and you won’t be hurt too badly. Understood?” Samara nodded, tears rolling down her cheeks in free flow. She bit her lips, wavering, and clenched her inhaler, wondering what was going to happen next. 

She suddenly felt a pair of hands caress her jaw, and she leaned away from the caress instinctively, only to be met with intense amount of pain coming from her left cheek, spreading out to her neck and eyes.  
  
“I told you to behave. Do that again and I won’t go easy next time, understood?” Samara, shaking, nodded….

* * *

It had been several days since Samara had disappeared. The bus offices called back to report that they had located their missing bus, and unfortunately, Samara’s cell phone was on it. Which meant that the plan that Samuel had to track his pumpkin via the Peachy Pumpkin Pooh Protection Protocol tracking system was useless in locating where Samara could be. The police had now become involved in the case. Charles was miraculously alive…and not deported somehow. Surprisingly, Samuel had calmed down slightly from his threats of killing and deporting Charles, once the younger man had filled him in on what had gone on in the lunch meeting without any mention of the fact that they were dating. He certainly didn’t need any more Papa Young-xplosions at this point, and really, his time needed to be dedicated to figuring out where Samara could have gone.

Charles sighed heavily at his desk, highly distracted. He couldn’t focus on his work, which was extremely uncharacteristic for him. Charles leaned back in his office chair, looking up at the ceiling. His brows tented in frustration as to what he could do in the meantime. His phone rang suddenly, bringing Charles out of his moping, and he pressed the button to answer the call.

“Hey, man. It’s Marshall - er, Ben. I walked Bowser, but he’s been acting funny.” Charles rolled his eyes as Marshall went on to explain that Bowser was not a fan of him, and how all their interactions had been.

“Benjamin. Please, do get to the point if you wouldn’t mind.” Charles rubbed his eyes, sighing again. Papa Young had contacted Samara’s friends to ask for assistance in locating the whereabouts of Samara, and to keep an eye on her apartment as well. The task to take care of Bowser had fallen on the next-door neighbor, Marshall.

“Uhhh, well…man. I hate to say it, but I think Bowser really misses Sam. And I think he would feel happier with you instead of with me. I mean, Sam did mention that Bowser took a liking to you. With Ms. Whipple being out of town, I think it may be best for you to take care of Bowser?” Charles frowned, and rubbed his eyes again, thinking about what his boss would think of Charles taking care of Samara’s dog. Ah, to hell with it. It couldn’t be any worse than it is now.

“Sure. Let me pack up, and I’ll head over there to get him.” Charles started gathering his things, glancing up at the time. It was time to get off work anyway.

“Sure, man! See you soon, then!” Charles pressed the end button and sighed heavily. Where was Samara? Was she still alive? His heart ached at the possibility that Samara was no longer around. No, he needed to keep his hopes up. Whatever happened, Samara needed to be alive. She couldn’t go without at least seeing him.

* * *

Samara had lost track of time. She was deeply worn out and in a lot of pain. She was still blindfolded, still bound, and stuck in a room with a mattress, with nothing else. Occasionally, someone would come, and took her to go to the bathroom, her underwear long gone due to it being soiled. They would bring her water and tasteless food to feed it to her. And she had endured a lot. So, so much. It felt like she was trapped in this life, and there was no way out. Her tears had long since run out, and her captors had figured out how to push her just enough so she wouldn’t have to rely on the inhaler, which frustrated her so much.

She sighed into the mattress, wincing in pain as she felt her body ache from her overexertion of lung muscles. Then, she heard heavy footfalls again, which sent a chill up her spine. Not again….


	3. Chapter 3

Charles headed out of his office building, intending to make a beeline to his car, when he suddenly paused. He frowned for a few minutes, thinking about what felt off about Samara’s disappearance. The police had attributed her disappearance to the assaults that happened on the city buses a few weeks ago. But in each of those cases, the assault just happened on the bus. They were never kidnapped, were they?

He stood there in the parking lot in idle thought, piecing together the pieces like a puzzle. Samara got on the bus that was stolen from the repair yard. But the assaults…. they didn’t occur on stolen buses. They occurred on buses during their regular routes. The bus was stolen from the repair yard that was used for the city bus system…which meant that the person who stole the bus would have had knowledge of where the buses were kept and repaired. His eyes widened.

“CACHU!” He broke out in a cold sweat. How did he NOT connect the dots? Samara’s disappearance was NOT related to the assaults on the buses. It was a completely different situation! He rushed to his car, getting in the car, and sped to Samara’s apartment. Maybe there were clues that were overlooked there. He wasn’t sure, but he had to try something now.

* * *

Arriving at the parking lot to Samara’s apartment, he got out of the car quickly, slamming the door so hard that some bystanders looked at him in shock. He opened his phone and pressed the call button to Marshall. The other end picked up after one ring. “Hey Char-“ Charles interrupted him, walking quickly to the second floor.

“Benjamin! Tell me you have Samara’s keys. And you have the contact information for one of her friends. Any one of them.” Marshall looked at his phone bewildered and put the phone back on his ear.

“Uh, yes, I do, to both of your questions. What’s up, man?” Charles stopped in front of Marshall’s door, and banged on it, making Marshall jump in fright. He got up, and opened the door, ending his call. “Dude, you scared the shit out of me! What’s up?”

“I think there’s a clue to Samara’s disappearance. But I need everybody’s help in figuring it out. Could you call one of the friends, and see if they can all arrive to Samara’s flat, please? Oh, and please, try not to involve Mr. Young…I really don’t want to have to deal with him breathing down my neck when I’m trying to figure out if this is a valid theory or not. And where’s that key?” Marshall’s eyes widened, and he grabbed the spare key that Samara had left at his place just in case, giving it to Charles. Charles grabbed it and made his way to next door. “Be sure to place that call and come over immediately.”

* * *

Less than 30 minutes later, the gang had all gathered up at Samara’s apartment, with Dee bringing coffee for everyone, including Charles. Once she had heard that everyone was gathering at Samara’s apartment to search for clues on her disappearance, she had insisted on bringing the brew and the munchies for everyone so they wouldn’t go hungry, much to everyone’s gratefulness. After quick introductions of everyone to Charles and vice versa, and Bowser has had his walk, they gathered at the kitchen bar, shoulder to shoulder.

“So, what you’re telling me now is that the assaults that happened on the buses a few weeks ago are not related to Samara’s situation?!” Angela fumed; her hands balled in fists. “When I find that sorry son of a bi-“ She was suddenly silenced by gentle hands on both sides of her arms, from Link and Vikki. Link shook his head at Angela with his furrowed brows and Vikki nodded at Angela.

“While I understand that we’re all angry, especially you, Angela, I think we should keep in mind that the matter of utmost importance is locating Sam and getting her to a safe place.” Vikki’s gentle reminder made Angela’s shoulders slump, nodding. Vikki then looked up at Charles, in all seriousness. “What can we do to help you, Mr. Jones?”  
  
Charles frowned at the address and ran his hands through his hair as he was seen doing so often ever since Samara disappeared. He had stopped bothering to put gel in his hair since it would get mussed up all day due to his worries. “Charles, please, if you wouldn’t mind.” He looked at everybody around the kitchen. “You all can call me Charles, it’s perfectly all right. So, that is the situation we are looking at right now. So, Samara disappeared, and I’m quite sure that her disappearance is not related to the bus assaults. Which means that there had been a lot of planning going into this, and for some reason, Samara was targeted. What I need to know is, who, how, and why?”

“All good questions, Mr. - I mean, Charles. I don’t know who would be interested in her, though. She doesn’t attract much attention to herself, does she?” Link looked around at others, looking for confirmation with some nods from the other guild members. “So why her?”

_“Is it possible that a rival corporation figured out that she’s the daughter of the CEO of Young Technologies?”_ A voice came from the pink phone in Olivia’s hand, with Olivia looking around at others and watching Edgar for their responses.

Charles frowned, thinking. “That is possible. It does seem that the other companies know of the ‘miracle daughter’ of Mr. Young, so that wouldn’t be too big of a stretch…”

* * *

After several hours of hashing down ideas with everybody, Charles sighed heavily. There were more questions than answers, but he hoped that they would all be answered, eventually. The group were looking a bit haggard, so he stood up from one of the chairs, stretching his back.

“Shall we order some food? I think we all could use a quick break. Additionally, it may be a good time to take Bowser out for a walk, as well.” Everybody nodded in agreement, with Vikki walking over to where the leashes were, and linked the leash to Bowser’s collar, handing Charles the leash. Charles looked at Vikki in appreciation, she had somehow figured out that he really needed a bit of space.

“Go on and take Bowser around the park. We’ll order something for everyone, including you.” Charles nodded gratefully, taking Bowser out of the flat. Upon reaching the park, he walked slowly, letting Bowser sniff at everything while he looked around his surroundings. This was a nice park, rather peaceful…until something caught his eye.

He noticed a dark van in the corner of the parking lot on the other end of the park, seemingly out of place. He frowned slightly and thought back to his previous visits. Had that van ever been around? Who were the owners of that van? He decided to make a mental note of the license plate and the type of the van. He nonchalantly walked back to the apartment with Bowser in tow, keeping an eye over his shoulder. It looked like the van wasn’t moving. But he noticed some movement inside the van, which made the hair on his arms stand on its ends. Keeping himself under control, he walked normally up to the apartment, and closed the door quickly, causing others to look up in alarm.

“…. Is anyone here good with looking up information?” Everybody looked at each other in confusion, unsure as to how to respond to Charles’s question. He groaned, rubbing his brows. “I guess I will need to call Umed…”

* * *

After a quick phone call to Umed, the food all arrived, and the group sat together to eat, while waiting for Umed to arrive with his laptop to assist them in the search, sworn to secrecy to not tell Mr. Young of what everybody at Samara’s apartment were up to.

Finally, a knock came at the door, and Marshall went to answer the door, opening it to show Umed with his laptop. Umed, taken aback at the crowd of people inside the apartment, did a small wave at people inside, his eyes searching for Charles. “Uhm, hi….? Oh, there you are, Charles! I was wondering if I was at the right place.” Charles nodded, and beckoned him in.

“Thank you for coming over so quickly, I do appreciate it. And thank you for being willing to keep this from Mr. Young for the time being. I don’t want to cause an uproar just yet.” Umed nodded at Charles, moving his laptop to the bar countertop of Sam’s kitchen, powering it on.

“Not a problem. While the computer is setting up, mind telling me what’s going on? And what do you need me to find?” Charles crossed his arms and nodded. He then walked over to Umed and sat down to fill his co-worker in on the details of what had been happening since he left the office today, making sure to focus only on the relevant parts. The explanation ended with the notice of the mysterious van at the edge of the park. Umed frowned, nodding at the van part. “Oh, yeah, I saw the van when I was coming here. That van gave me the heebie jeebies. Do you have the details on the van?” Charles nodded, and passed over the paper that he had hastily scribbled the license plate number on soon after returning to the apartment. All that was left to do was for Umed to start searching for more information to see if more dots could be connected.

* * *

It took quite a while for Umed to finally get the data that they were all looking for. Not just that, he also had uncovered some interesting information regarding the owners of the van, as well. As the data came up on his screen, Umed, drinking some of the coffee that Dee had brewed, nearly choked on it, bringing attention from everyone. Marshall, being the closest, reached out his arm and lightly smacked Umed’s back, concerned about his coughing. “You alright, man?” Umed nodded, clearing his throat.

“Yeah, I’m alright. Thanks. Charles…. you’re going to want to see this.” Charles raised his eyebrow and made his way around the bar top to look at the computer. His brows shot up in surprise as he read the information who the owner of the van was.

“How is this even possible…?” Charles muttered, reading the lines on the laptop. The van was owned by none other than Young Technologies. Furthermore, it was one of the vans that was reported stolen a couple of months ago. His eyes narrowed, wondering who would be so brazen as to park the van near the home of the daughter of the CEO.   
  
“That’s not all, Charles. Here, I was able to get into the system for the cameras in LA, and I saw some people getting in and out of the van. I did a facial software recognition scan on the people and was able to obtain some IDs. Here they are.” Umed pulled up another window, angling the laptop to make it easier for Charles to see what he was referring to.

“Just who are these people? I don’t recognize them…” Charles frowned at the IDs of four different men on the screen, all looking angrily at the screen. One had bright red hair with brown eyes, the other three had dark hair with brown eyes, as well.

Marshall looked over at the laptop over Umed’s shoulder and recognized one of the men. “Oh, HEY! I know that guy!” Umed winced, leaning away from Marshall’s voice, while Charles and the others in the apartment looked at Marshall in astonishment. As Marshall looked up at Charles, his mouth snapped shut at the stares of everybody on him. “Oh, uhm…that guy…he was actually arrested for stalking a Viewtuber….” Marshall trailed off, the color draining from his face.

Charles slammed his hand on the bar top, causing Umed and Marshall to jump slightly. “We need to find out where they are. _Now.”_ Umed nodded, and started typing quickly, pulling up more information on the four men. Charles turned his eyes on Marshall, who was trembling slightly. “Thank you, Benjamin. I think you could use a rest. All this stress must not be good for your heart, correct?” Marshall quickly looked at his heart monitor and nodded quickly, seeing as his monitor was beeping a bit quickly, indicating that there was a bit more stress on his heart due to excitement.

Vikki was the first to speak up for everybody. “Well, this is turning into a late night. I don’t think everyone needs to be here now. I think we can afford to have some people heading home, am I correct?” Charles looked at Vikki and nodded. “Great. Oliva, Edgar, Marshall, shall we? I think the others have this under control.” With that, Vikki shot a warning glance at Link and Angela. Some of the group left Samara’s apartment to head home, while others stayed behind, staying on hand in case Charles needed more help with that van.

* * *

After a few more minutes, Umed had finally pulled up property and rental records for the four men, along with some footage of the men walking around in various parts of LA. Charles studied the maps of the addresses, thinking about all the puzzle pieces and how they all fit together. Abe approached Charles and put his hand on his shoulder, causing Charles to look up at him.

“Mind if I help with the maps?” Charles nodded, leaning back. He then looked at the others sitting around anxiously, and he sighed, rubbing his forehead again. This was going to be a very long night. He hoped that all this effort would be worth it in the end, and that they hadn’t chased down all red herrings.

Looking over the maps, Abe studied the addresses, familiar with some of the locations. He frowned slightly, then looked up at Charles. “Charles…you say Sam was kidnapped on a bus, right?” Charles nodded. “Then would it be a good idea to consider which bus stops are near those addresses?” Charles’s eyes widened at the suggestion and a smile came to his face.

“I do believe that is a fantastic suggestion. Thank you very much for bringing that up, I hadn’t thought of that.” Abe nodded, and looked up at Umed, who had already caught on and was looking up a list of all the bus stops that were near each of the addresses.

“Found them! Here’s a list of the bus stops near each address.” Umed turned the laptop at Charles and Abe, who then studied the stops and the bus numbers. Link looked at Angela, who shrugged slightly, and they both looked back at the men hunched over the laptop. Link leaned into Angela, his shoulder bumping Angela a bit.

“Do you feel a bit useless like I’m feeling at the moment?” Link whispered into Angela’s ear, who shivered slightly, and nodded, taking a hold of his hand and squeezing it slightly. Link sighed, and just leaned back, waiting to see how he and Angela could help in the long run. Dee looked at the gang, and got up, stretching her back a bit.

“Ok, guys. I’m going to brew one last pot of coffee for everybody, then I gotta go. I need my sleep.” Everyone nodded at Dee gratefully, and grabbed their cups from Dee, and she waved everybody goodbye and left the apartment ten minutes later. After about ten more minutes of poring over the maps and bus stops, Charles suddenly noticed the bus stop number near one of the addresses in the map.

“Hey, that address is one of the stops for the number six bus.” Abe looked up at Charles, and looked at the map, frowning.

“It’s also one of the more secluded places in the city, as well. Not many people are around there. From what I hear that place is also a bit sketchy.” Abe looked up at Charles, both recognizing that the address was the most likely place if their guesses were correct.

“We need to go check it out.”


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This is a short one. The chapters going forward will be more similar to CH 2 and 3 in length. Thank you!

After hastily making plans with everybody still around the apartment, everyone loaded up in different cars, taking off at different times in different directions as to not arise suspicion from the van. Charles patted Bowser goodbye and locked up the apartment, sighing heavily. He hoped that the plan was a solid plan…and most of all, he hoped that the results would be successful as well. He ran his hands through his hair again and rolled up his sleeves, loosening up his tie.

With that, he turned around and started heading towards his car, taking a quick glance at his surroundings without making it obvious, and noted the van was still there. He’d better keep an eye on the van, then. He wasn’t sure if the van would follow him or not, which is why he had everybody leave the way they did. He was going to be the bait if need to be. He got into his car, started it up, and drove off while keeping an eye in the rearview mirror.

After a while of driving, he was glad to see that there was no one following him, although he wanted to make a few more stops to be on the safe side. He stopped at a gas station, purchasing some gas and a drink. Then he headed towards another location keeping an eye on the rearview mirror, noting that there were no one following him still. Satisfied, he began to make his way towards the address near bus 6 stop, placing his call on speakerphone with others.

“Everybody, I’m on my way. Are you all nearby?” There was silence for a few minutes, then several deep voices and one feminine voice answered in the affirmative. Charles let out a small sigh of relief and steeled his nerves. This was the do-or-die time.

Charles parked a distance away, making sure that his car was inconspicuous. He removed his tie and readied himself. Getting out of the car, he scanned the scene and noticed Abe and Link nearby, with Angela trailing behind. Umed would likely be somewhere nearby, as well, acting as the eyes and ears of the neighborhood for the small group. He then set his cell phone on silent and put it in his pocket. The call was his direct line to Umed and he would listen in just in case.

They all met up at the address, nodding slightly at each other. Abe was the first to speak softly. “I checked the premises. No one’s around.” Link and Angela nodded and looked at each other, then looked at Charles and Abe.

“We took our chances and peeked into the windows, and there was no sign of people in there. We did see there were stuff inside, so it’s likely someone is either staying in there, or living in there.” Angela whispered to everybody, with Charles nodding.

“Okay, thank you for the information, everybody. Let’s put the plan in action.” They all nodded at each other, and Charles took out a lockpick. He picked the lock, and slowly opened the door, checking the surroundings. The others looked at him in astonishment, wondering where the heck he had gotten the lockpicking skill from.

Charles looked back at the group ready to signal, only to pause when he saw the looks of bewilderment on their faces. He frowned at them, wondering why they looked so surprised. Abe pointed at the pick, raising his brow in question. Charles looked at his pick and sighed silently. “I do escape rooms as a hobby and I do consultations on them so I carry some tools with me as well. Just so you know.” Charles spoke in a low whisper looking at the group. The others’ eyes widened and nodded in understanding. Now that was out of the way, he signaled to others and they all crept in, with Charles going in first, then Abe, then Link and Angela.

* * *

Samara panted slightly. How long had it been since she’s been in here? She was hurting even more now, with every breath spreading pain throughout her body. She wasn’t even sure if she would make it through the captivity. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying not to sob. She had so many regrets, far too many. She didn’t want to die with any regrets. One of the biggest regrets she had was that she never had the chance to apologize to Charles. She should have never left that restaurant… She should have stayed and tried to talk things out with him. She should have never gotten on the bus….

She sobbed quietly, gasping at the same time in pain. Then suddenly, she heard footfalls, which made her shudder. No, they couldn’t be coming back, could they? They weren’t supposed to come back yet! She bit her lips, trying not to make any noises, shaking all over. She wasn’t ready to deal with this anymore. She couldn’t. She just wanted to go away. Suddenly, she heard a lot of chaotic noises, making her blink in confusion. What was going on?! She still couldn’t see, then immediately she heard the voice that she had wished to hear all this time.

“Samara? Samara!!!! Oh god, Samara, don’t move! We’re coming!” Samara suddenly felt warm arms envelop her, which made her yelp in pain. Suddenly, she was blinded by the light, blinking up at the face of the one she had wished to see the most…. Charles.


	5. Chapter 5

Some time later, Samara opened her eyes again, wincing as she was blinded by bright lights. She took in a breath, and moved her head gingerly, to try to figure out where she was at. Bed with metal handlebars, blankets, IVs…and a cast on her left arm? She frowned, looking up to take in the room.

She was in a hospital room, with Angela and Vikki sleeping on the couch nearby, Link dozing off on the floor holding Angela’s hand, and…. no one else? She frowned, wondering where Charles was. Did she hallucinate and mistake Link for Charles?

She was getting sleepy again…no, she wanted to stay awake for Charles. She wanted to see him…but where was he? Did he even bother to look for her? Samara lowered her eyes, willing herself not to tear up. She then heard the doorknob turn, and she looked up suddenly, and winced at the pain as her body protested her unexpected movement. The door opened and Samara’s parents came into the room. Samantha looked up at Samara’s bed, and her eyes widened at the sight of her daughter awake.

“Oh, Samara, you’re awake! Thank goodness.” She quickly walked over to Samara, waking up the friends that had been napping on the couch. Samuel also rushed in after hearing Samantha’s voice.

“Pumpkin!!!! Are you OK? Do you need pain medication? Do you need your inhaler? Do you..” Samara winced at the barrage of questions from her father, her head ringing slightly from all the chatter. Samantha put a hand on Samuel’s arm, making him stop. He paused, looking from Samantha to Samara and back and sighed deeply. He then attempted to speak softly to Samara. “I’m sorry, Pumpkin. How are you…feeling?”

Samara sighed lightly and shook her head a bit. “Not that great. I want to sleep...” Samuel’s eyes watered up and sighed deeply, nodding. He tenderly patted Samara on her head and smiled slightly.

“I’m glad you’re still with us, Pumpkin. Take all the time you need to rest, OK? Bowser will be looked after, as well, so just focus on yourself.” Samara nodded slightly, raising an eyebrow a bit. This was not normal behavior for her father. He normally overreacted and would be all up in arms about her well-being. Was she truly in that bad of a shape if even her father was more subdued than usual? She sighed lightly, dozing off.

A few hours later, Samara woke again and scanned the room to see if Charles was around. Still seeing no sign of Charles, Samara sighed a bit, only to wince in pain again. At least she was where she needed to be for the time being. She looked at the couch area again, smiling as she saw Vikki and Angela dozing. The door opened, causing Samara to look at the door again. She was a bit disappointed when she saw Link come in. She had been hoping that the next person to come in would be Charles. Link looked at the bed and startled a bit.

“Sam! You’re awake.” Vikki and Angela woke with a start from Link’s voice, looking over at the bed. Samara nodded, smiling a bit. She lifted her right arm and gestured them to come to her. The trio all came to sit by Samara’s bed. Samara cleared her throat slightly and winced a bit as she tried to speak. Vikki grabbed a glass of water by Sam’s bed with a straw in it, and put it to Samara’s lips, allowing her to gratefully drink a bit of water to make it easier for her to talk.

“Thanks Vikki. Uhm…I really don’t remember much of what happened.” Link looked worriedly at Angela and Vikki, and silent communication erupted between them. Samara sighed, drawing the attention back to her. “Come on guys. I’d at least like to know how I was found and brought here.” Link sighed, running his hand through his hair as he was weighing his options. A long stretch of silence dragged on between the four, until Link finally broke it.  
  
“Well. I dunno where to start since I wasn’t really there for all of it.” Link rubbed the back of his head, pausing for a moment. “When you disappeared, the police assumed that it was related to the assaults that happened on other buses a few weeks back. Of course, after a few days, Mr. Jones figured that your disappearance and the bus assaults were separate matters. He asked all of us to get together at your place.” Link finished, glancing over at Vikki and Angela. Vikki nodded, putting a hand on Samara’s arm gently and spoke softly as Samara listened.

“Charles asked Marshall to get in touch with all of your friends. Marshall happened to have my number for the yoga studio and was able to get in touch with me that way. I contacted the guild and Link, and we all headed over to your place to figure out what could have happened.” Samara sat silently, trying to comprehend all the information coming at her. She frowned slightly, wondering where the heck Charles was right now.

“So, you all gathered at my apartment? What exactly did you do there?” Vikki smiled, thinking back and looked at Angela with her brows raised. Angela blinked and sighed since it was her turn to pick up some more of the story.

“We were all discussing different ideas about who could have taken you, and for what reasons. Anyway, that doesn’t matter. At some point, Charles decided to take Bowser out for a walk, and on the walk, he noticed a weird van that looked out of place. He came back, called one of your co-workers…Uamand?”

Sam smiled slightly and shook her head. “It’s Umed, not Uamand. Go on.” Angela chuckled and nodded, carrying on.

“Umed came over to the apartment and was able to do some fancy computer whiz stuff to get into different systems, and we were able find out who kidnapped you and where you were likely at. Charles came up with the whole plan. I gotta say, I really don’t want to fuck him over.” Link nodded emphatically at Angela’s statement, adding in.

“Yeah. I thought he was just a gay dude who liked to dress sharp, but he’s got some serious fighting skills.” Samara tilted her head, then winced as pain spread up on her shoulder. “Oh, don’t move your body too much! You’ve been through a lot, Sam. When Mr. Jones finally found you, you were in a terrible shape. I had to grab my first aid kit and get Umed to call the police and EMS in.” Link checked Samara’s shoulder gently, making sure that it wasn’t worse off. “Just don’t move too much, OK?”

“Ugh. OK, so where is… Charles? And what exactly is going on? How bad off am I?” Link hesitantly looked at Vikki and Angela, holding another long conversation between them silently, and sighed.

“That we can’t say. Mr. Jones is…. not here right now. And the doctor should be by soon to let you know exactly what’s going on with you….”

* * *

Charles was lying on his couch at home with his arm across his face. He was at a loss as to what he should do now, really. Torn between wanting to be at the hospital to check on Samara or to face the wrath of his boss for whatever reason, even though he had been one of the people responsible for locating Samara. When the paramedics had arrived, Charles went with them to the hospital, holding Samara’s hand as much as he could. He thought back to the moments that occurred after they had arrived at the hospital…

_“I need to make the phone call…wait, where is she going?” Charles looked at the doctor, who was taking over the paramedic’s records and ordering the nurses to take Samara to another area. The doctor looked up briefly at Charles._

_“Are you a family member of this young lady?” Charles shook his head no but indicated his phone._

_“I’m about to call her parents.” The doctor nodded._

_“All right. She’s going in for testing. We need to find out where she’s injured. Please wait out here.” Charles’s eyes widened at that statement and gulped, nodding at the doctor. Satisfied, the doctor went straight through the swinging doors of the emergency room._

_Charles sighed, and pressed the speed-dial button to place a call to his boss._

Shaking his head, he groaned deeply. Everything was a blur after that. Samuel and Samantha had arrived at the waiting room where Charles was sitting alone. Samuel looked furious and relieved at the same time, while Samantha’s expression wasn’t readable for Charles to discern how she was feeling. Samuel then took Charles to an empty area where they could have a private discussion. Charles thought back on the conversation, reviewing what had been said.

_“Jones. It’s time for you to go home. You’ve done more than enough here.” Charles looked at Samuel, his eyes widening a bit at the look in Samuel’s eyes. Samuel’s eyes were full of storm and anger, his face was set. However, his voice was softer than Charles would have expected it to be._

_“Sir? I can wait for news if... “ He was interrupted by Samuel holding his hand up._

_“Hold on. You need rest. We will talk about this later.” Charles, at a loss for words, nodded silently._

Charles sat up and bent over, putting his head in his hands. He was aware that he couldn’t protest Samuel’s reasoning. Also, he really did not want to have to tell Samuel about the truth of his and Samara’s relationship without her being there. So, he had to leave the hospital. He wasn’t so sure if his neck was still on the line…he supposed it depended on the results of Samara’s tests. Charles leaned back on the couch, looking up at the ceiling and wishing he were at the hospital with Samara to keep an eye on her. Was this how the Youngs felt when Samara was sick growing up? Could he handle that kind of anxiety? Should he even consider packing his belongings to return to Wales?

Charles also thought back to the moments after he had left the Youngs, his brows tenting in frustration and worry. As he was leaving the hospital, the police had accosted him and asked if he would be willing to give them a statement on the way to retrieve his car that was left behind.

_Upon arriving to the location where Charles’s car was, the police escorted Charles to his car, pausing a moment. Charles turned around to the pair, looking at them in the eyes. The older detective cleared his throat and pulled out his interview pad, gearing up to ask Charles the standard questions. “Thank you for coming with us, Mr. Jones. We do appreciate your cooperation. Now, you say that you and Miss Young’s friends were able to get together and figure out the whereabouts of Miss Young?” Charles nodded as the detective scribbled in his pad._

_“Yes, that is correct. I was thinking about the assault cases that occurred on the buses a few weeks prior, and how they differed from Miss Young’s disappearance. It was only when I suspected that it was not related that I was able to gain the assistance of Miss Young’s friends to narrow down the possibilities.”_

_The detective nodded as he wrote down his statement, pausing for a moment, and looked up at Charles. “You also mentioned that there was a stolen van that was parked near Miss Young’s apartment, correct?” Charles frowned, nodding. “Well, it seems that the van has disappeared. We are searching for it now. Unfortunately, we were unable to locate the persons responsible for the kidnapping.” Charles paled, looking at the detective._

_“You mean…. they’re out there and can kidnap Miss Young again if the opportunity presents itself?” The detective cleared his throat, neither confirming nor denying Charles’s question. Charles narrowed his eyes at the detective, his anger bubbling up. “Why was the police force unable to locate the people? There are cameras around the city, are there not?”_

_The detective looked up at Charles, wearily sighing. “Yes. There are cameras. But the businesses around the area have been uncooperative thus far. So we do have to go through a process through the court to gain access to them if the owners of the cameras refuse to share them. So, unfortunately, as of now we cannot just go to the private businesses and demand for their camera records.” Charles sighed rubbing his forehead, slightly slumping his shoulders._

_“Fair enough.” He looked ruefully at his car and leaned back on it. “Is that all the questions you need from me? As much as I would love to stay here and continue giving you as much information as I can, I must admit that I’m exhausted from my lack of sleep. If you wouldn’t mind, I’d like to return home so I can rest.” The younger detective, who had been quiet all this time, looked up at Charles and spoke quickly.  
  
“Yes, I think that will be all. Thank you so much for your cooperation. We will be in touch should we need more information.” The older detective raised his brow at his younger partner, who stared back at him in silent conversation. Charles waited a few moments more for any more response, which finally came from the older man._

_“She’s correct. We will be in touch. Thank you for your time, Mr. Jones.” Charles nodded and got in the car to drive off._

That piece of information was not comforting to think of for Charles. He laid back on the couch thinking. The kidnappers were still on the loose? Should he worry for Samara’s safety? Her apartment wasn’t exactly secure in his opinion, but where could she stay that would be safer? He sighed, dozing off in restless sleep.

* * *

“W-what?” Samara’s eyes blinked incomprehensively at the doctor, who had come in to check on Samara’s health where he found her awake and talking with her friends. The doctor nodded, looking over the charts. Samara continued on, “You’re telling me that I’ve got some of my ribs, arm, and leg broken, along with my shoulder and hip being dislocated….”

“Correct. And you’ve had internal bleeding, as well. Had you not been found when you were, you would have likely died within the next day or so. We’re keeping you here for observation and to give your body a chance to heal.” He pushed up his glasses, looking at Sam seriously. “The police are outside waiting to talk to you if you are prepared for that.” Samara’s eyes widened, and she looked at Link and others. Different thoughts were racing through her head, trying to understand it all. Vikki placed a hand on Sam’s arm, and looked at the doctor.

“Could we have a bit more time before the police comes in? I think Sam needs time to process all the information.” The doctor nodded and headed out, closing the door. “You doing all right, Sam?” Link and Angela looked worriedly at Sam, each placing a gentle hand on Sam’s arms.

“Uh…I’m not sure. I don’t even remember what happened to me. How am I supposed to talk to the police? What can I possibly have to say that would be of a-any value to them?” Sam’s breathing grew erratic, making Link reach for Sam’s inhaler and shaking it. She watched him preparing the inhaler, flashing back to a not-so-distant memory.

_“Take a deep breath, Samara.” Charles spoke in a soothing voice, taking Samara’s inhaler and shaking it. “You’re letting your emotions get away from you and if you’re not careful, you will work yourself into an apoplexy.” He then presented the inhaler to Samara, concern showing on his face. “Please, use this - and take a moment to get your breathing under control.”_

Samara blinked back into present time as Link lightly pressed the inhaler to Samara’s lips, encouraging her to take a breath as she inhaled a puff of albuterol into her airways, getting her breathing under control. She sighed as her breathing steadied out and looked at Link gratefully. “Thanks for that. I appreciate it.” Link smiled and nodded, putting the inhaler near Sam just in case.

“No problem. Just take your time. And even if you think you don’t have much to add, any little information could help the police. Just keep that in mind. It’s all up to you, though.” He sighed, checking his watch. “It’s time for me to go, though. I gotta go to the Daily Grind. I can bring back some coffee for you after my shift with Angela if you’d like?” Samara’s eyes widened nodded enthusiastically, then winced as her shoulder protested her movement. Link chuckled and nodded, getting up from his seat near Sam. “Coffee it is, then. Let’s go, Ange.” Angela nodded, and gave Sam a light kiss on her forehead.

“I’m glad you’re still with us, Sam. Just rest up. Don’t worry about anything for the time being, OK?” Sam nodded, smiling slightly.

“Yeah. Thanks for being around. I appreciate you two.” She watched Link and Angela leaving, her eyebrows raising as she noticed the pair linked their hands together, fingers enlacing as they left the room. She turned to look at Vikki, her eyebrow raised. “Did I just see…?” Vikki nodded.

“Yup. Not official yet, though. They’re starting out.” Sam smiled at Vikki’s response, happy that two of her oldest friends were finally starting to date. They’d make a great match for each other. She then frowned at Vikki, taking in as deep of a breath as she can without hurting herself.

“Do you think I should go ahead and talk to the police now? And uhm...where _exactly_ is Charles?” Vikki grew serious, looking at Sam. She glanced at the door and sighed slightly.

“I’m not sure where he is, actually. When we all got here, he was gone, and your parents were here already. I think your dad may have sent him off somewhere. I’m not sure if he’s going to be back, though.” They were suddenly interrupted by the clearing of throats coming from the direction of the door. As Sam and Vikki looked up, they met the faces of Samantha and Samuel.

“I may have sent who off?” Samuel’s voice came out a bit gruffer, with a stony expression on his face. He paused, waiting for an answer...


	6. Chapter 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for your kind words! My apologies for taking a bit of time with this one... I wanted to do the story justice. Enjoy!

Samara and the others looked up at the doors, seeing Samuel and Samantha standing there. Samuel looked like he was ready to kill someone with his posture. At loss for words, Link gulped and looked at Angela and Vikki. Samara finally spoke, looking up at Samuel. “I was wondering where Charles was… since I remember seeing him before I ended up here.” Samuel frowned at his daughter, stretching his silence on far longer than Samara and her friends were comfortable with. Samantha sighed in annoyance at Samuel, casting an apologetic smile at the quartet. Link cleared his throat, glancing at Angela and Vikki. 

“Well, I think it might be best for us three to head out and give Sam some time with her parents…” Vikki nodded in assent. After saying goodbye to the Youngs, the three left. Samara waved goodbye to her friends, then looked at her parents and sighed as heavily as she could without incurring pain.

“Come and sit down, Mom and Dad.” She gestured to the chairs near her bed. Samantha made the first move, brushing past Samuel and giving him a look before sitting down on the chair nearest to her daughter. Samuel sighed and followed his wife to sit in the chair next to her. “So, Dad. I still don’t know where Charles is. Is he all right?”

“He’s fine. I sent him home to rest.” Samuel’s gruff tone came out as he rubbed his forehead. “When I saw him, he looked like he had no sleep. He’s not much good if he’s dead on his feet.” Samantha gave Samuel a look, making Samuel swallow his throat slightly and sigh. “I’ve talked to the police about what happened when you were found. I asked your friends as well. It appears that Charles and your friends were up nearly all night trying to track down your whereabouts. He called before we came in the room, and I told him to take a day off and rest. Knowing him, he’s likely headed to work right now.”

“Sam, honey, it’ll be all right.” Samantha reached out to hold Samara’s hand, squeezing it gently. “Just focus on resting as much as you can. You’ve been through quite a lot.” Samara nodded, yawning slightly. As Samuel reached out for the hand covered by his wife’s hand, he saw the time on his watch. Squeezing the joined hands, he slowly got up.

“I’ve got to head to work. There’s a lot that I need to discuss with Charles.” He gave Sam a look. “Sam, honey, please listen to us and rest up, all right? I’ll be back later in the day.” As he headed out, he took one last look at Sam, and gave her a reassuring smile. “Don’t worry. Everything is fine at work. Just focus on rest for now, all right?” As Sam nodded and waved slightly, Samuel left the room, shutting the door with a soft thud. After a few moments of silence, Samantha looked at Sam with a smirk.

“Now, honey. We’re going to need to talk about you and Charles…” Sam gulped a bit at the tone in her voice.

* * *

After Charles woke up, he realized he overslept. He hastily threw his suit on and sighed. He really didn’t want to stay home all day and mope as it wasn’t his style. He quickly drove to the office, frowning slightly. While he understood the reasoning behind Samuel telling him to stay home, he would have preferred to be at work focusing on things that were unrelated to Samara and her recent misadventures after their argument. As he strode into the office, he startled the office receptionist, Lucy. “Charles! I wasn’t expecting to see you in today. Mr. Young told us that you would be taking a day off today…” Lucy trailed off as Charles shook his head, smiling slightly.

“Thank you, Lucy. I decided not to take up on Mr. Young’s offer. Are there any mail or messages for me?” Lucy nodded, grabbing some envelopes addressed to Charles, along with a couple of memos regarding contract negotiations with future clients. Charles started to head towards his office when Samuel’s door suddenly opened, making Charles pause. As he looked over to Samuel like a deer caught in headlights, Samuel just shook his head and beckoned him to come into his office. Sighing, Charles went into the office, closing the door behind him.

Samuel headed to his desk and sat, his fingertips pressing each other together. As Charles steeled himself and sealed his nervousness away, he sat at the chair in front of Samuel. Samuel stared at Charles for a few moments and sighed. “Jones. I told you to take the day off. What prompted you to disregard what I said and come into the office?” After the question came out of Samuel’s mouth, there was a tense pause between the pair. After a few moments, Charles sighed and rubbed his brow.

“My apologies, Mr. Young. I am not the sort who can handle staying at home without work to do. Additionally, there is quite a bit of work that needs to be done that are time sensitive. I would prefer that I get ahead on them and finish them on time or earlier.” Pausing for a moment, he continued on, “These matters have been made more pressing due to the fact that I currently do not have an assistant that can handle some of the work for me, which is none of her fault. I would much prefer that she focus on recovering instead of rushing back to work. I’m happy to put in extra time to ensure we all meet our deadlines without Samara around. “

After he had stated his case, he looked up at Samuel for his response. Samuel was quiet for a while, running over what Charles had said in his mind. Not moving, he looked back up at Charles with his eyes glinting.

“I want to make it clear. Despite all that’s happened to Pumpkin, you are not at fault for her injuries. As a matter of fact, I want to thank you.” Charles’ brows rose in surprise, not registering what Samuel had just said.

“Pardon me, sir…I wasn’t expecting that. Did you say you wanted to thank me?” Samuel nodded, making Charles pause for a few moments. “I’m not quite…sure what you should be thanking me for, to be frank. If we hadn’t had that discussion, she wouldn’t have gotten on the bus...” Samuel then put his hand up, stopping Charles from continuing.

“It’s possible that she would have been taken by these thugs sooner or later. I do believe that your prompt actions were instrumental in Samara returning to us alive. While the police are still looking for the suspects, I don’t think we would have her back if it weren’t for you connecting clues together.” Samuel sighed heavily, looking over at the framed photos of his family. His eyes softened at the image of Samara. “As you know, I’ve talked about how we came close to losing Samara and Samantha when Samara was born. So, Samantha and I have a lot to be thankful for, especially with Samara still being alive.” He chuckled and shook his head, looking back at Charles. “And as much as I truly hate to say it…we have you to thank, as well. If it weren’t for you, I don’t know if Samara would have made it through the entire kidnapping situation.”

There was another silence that stretched on as Charles struggled to maintain his neutral expression. Finally, he cleared his throat. “S-sir… I still don’t believe I’m deserving of any thanks. I do truly apologize. But I am glad that Samara is back with everybody. And to be frank…it wasn’t just my efforts that led to Samara being discovered.” He smiled ruefully, continuing. “Samara has extremely close and loyal friends. I am grateful to each and every one of them for their assistance. She is truly lucky to have so many friends that will go to such lengths for her…” He trailed off, not wanting to continue further and bring up bitter memories of his past. Samuel raised his eyebrows when he saw a flash of sadness appearing on Charles’ face before it disappeared. Waiting for a few moments, Samuel nodded.

“Samara is lucky, indeed.” Charles looked back up at Samuel and nodded in assent. He glanced at his watch, noting the time.

“I think I should get back to my work. I shouldn’t keep our clients waiting.” Samuel nodded, dismissing the younger man. Charles stood up and nodded his thanks to his boss as he left the office. After Charles closed the door, Samuel frowned in curiosity on what happened in the past that could have caused that look of sadness that he saw on Charles’ face.

As Charles headed back into his office, he pushed the conversation with his boss out of his mind. Soon after that, he lost himself in work. After several hours had gone by, he was alerted to his cell phone ringing. He frowned, wondering who could be calling him at this time. He glanced up at the clock and realized it was right after lunch. He pulled out his phone to see who was calling, but Charles did not recognize the number. He decided to put the phone on the desk and ignore the call. If it was truly important, they’d call again. Sure enough, a few minutes later, the phone rang again from the same number. Now curious, Charles picked up the phone and answered it.

“You’ve reached Charles Jones. To whom am I speaking to?” The voice that came from the other end startled Charles so much that he almost fumbled the phone. He had not expected Samantha to have his number…wait, when did she have his number? His unasked question was soon answered a few moments later.

“Hello, Charles. This is Samantha Young, Sam’s mother. I got your number from Sam’s new phone so I could call you. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but Sam has woken up.” Amused after Charles’ quick intake of breath, Samantha continued. “Sam’s been wondering if you were all right. Right now, she’s sleeping so I’m talking to you outside her room. I’d like to ask you if you wouldn’t mind paying a visit to Sam…I think she would really like to see you.”

Charles blinked at the phone, surprised at the request. “Mrs. Young, are you sure that Samara has asked for me, and not for her friends?” He heard a warm chuckle come from the other end, making his unease slowly disappear.

“I’m sure. She’s asked after your well-being after she woke up and saw her friends in the room. I just happened to overhear her talking to them about you, asking if you were OK and what had happened to you.” Chuckling, Samantha said, “If you’re willing to pay Sam a visit, I’ll keep Samuel busy, and Ruth can keep Jay occupied for a while. That way, you wouldn’t have to worry about the Young men’s overprotectiveness.” Charles chuckled a bit at that, shaking his head. “Her room number is 3416. You’ll come, won’t you?”

Charles smiled, quickly making plans to stop at a florist shop on the way. “Yes, Mrs. Young, I will. I can take an early leave in about an hour and be there in an hour and a half, two hours?”

“That sounds great. I’m sure she will be up by then. Thank you. I’ll be hanging up now.” Charles nodded to no one in particular, saying his goodbyes. He quickly wrapped up his emails and grabbed his jacket, throwing it on and heading out to the reception desk. As he strode up to the desk, Lucy looked back up at him curiously. “Lucy, please take messages for me. I will not be back for the rest of the day. See you tomorrow.” Lucy nodded as she watched him pass by, raising an eyebrow.

* * *

Samara looked up at the door as she heard a knock. “Come in.” Her eyes widened in surprise as she saw the blonde poke through the door, accompanied with a bouquet of flowers. “Charles! Where have you been?” Charles smiled apologetically, striding up to Samara’s bedside on the right. He presented the flowers to her.

“My apologies, Samara. It’s been rather eventful for the past 48 hours or so. I hope you will consider accepting these flowers as my way of apology, especially since our last…discussion.” Samara smiled as she took the flowers in her right arm and admired the flowers. She looked up at Charles. He explained the flowers in the arrangement, “White aster, purple hyacinths, and maidenhair fern. I asked the florist to arrange them for you. Should I put them somewhere?”

Samara nodded and looked over at her bedside table on her right, where an empty vase was located. Charles looked in the direction that Samara indicated and said, “Ah, wonderful. I’ll put them there then.” He placed the flowers gently in the vase and took up a seat near Samara. Samara studied Charles’ face, noting how tired he looked. “Charles, did you even get any sleep?”

He smiled ruefully and rubbed the back of his head. He shrugged a bit, choosing not to answer outright. Samara sighed at him and winced a bit as her ribs protested. “Ugh. So, uhm…what’s been happening?”

“Well, aside from the fact that I haven’t been deported yet?” He laughed softly at Samara’s glare. “I couldn’t resist, as you know what your father is typically like when it comes to me. But on a more serious note…I want to take this moment and apologize again for what happened at the restaurant nearly a week ago. I should not have let anger get to the best of me, and I should not have threatened to bring the issue up to your father. I truly regret doing so.” He lightly touched Samara’s uninjured knee, looking into her eyes. “If I could go back and do it all over again, I would have backed off the moment you defended yourself. I have no excuse for my behavior.”

Samara was silent for a while and nodded. “Apology accepted. Can you tell me what happened after I got on the bus? I’m afraid I don’t remember that much after I got on it. I was knocked out, and when I came to, I was already where you found me…” She trailed off, shuddering slightly. Charles frowned at her shudder and reached to touch her face lightly, which caused her look at him.

“Bunty…it’s all right. You’re safe here.” Sam smiled slightly at his use of the pet name for her. Charles drew back, his hand lightly fisting the sheet near Samara. “The bus had just left by the time I arrived at the stop. Only after calling the bus office to inquire about the route, did I notice that the bus number didn’t match up. I eventually figured that you were kidnapped due to that inconsistency.” 

Samara nodded, waiting for Charles to go on. “After calling Mr. Young and getting reamed out by him, we got the police involved and reviewed our correspondence to see if there were anything we missed to no avail. I ended up at the point where I noticed that the assaults were random assaults on buses, and what happened to you was not like the previous cases of assaults. That led me to gather your friends and ask them for assistance.”

He sighed and smiled up at Samara. “You’ve truly got amazing friends. They all dropped their plans to come to your flat and assist me in finding clues to your disappearance. It was only after that I went for a walk with Bowser when I noticed a van parked in the parking lot near the park and apartment. The van was slightly odd to me. Umed came over and helped us run some…well.” He rubbed the back of his head again sheepishly. “He ran some programs to get into the databases and was able to track down the information, and your friends put two and two together. Abraham was the one who recognized the location and some of us headed there. We found you there.”

He then frowned at the recollection, continuing. “You were in an extremely rough shape. Link attended to you while I had Umed call for EMS and police. And well, the rest is history, I suppose.” Samara was silent for a while, running things over in her head. He looked at Samara, his brows tented in worry. “Samara…if I may ask, did you notice a strange van parked outside your flat and the park?” Samara shook her head, her eyes widening.

“No, I never even noticed the van. I wonder how long it was there…” Charles took Samara’s hand and rubbed gently. The silence drew on for a few minutes, until Samara looked back up at Charles, her tears brimming in her eyes. “What if it’s still there? A-and I live alone…I’m scared…” Charles’ heart hurt to see Samara like this. If they never had the bus argument on that day…she wouldn’t be feeling this way. He tucked a stray hair behind Samara’s ear, gently pulling her chin up while he stayed mindful of her bruising.

“It’s Ok, Bunty. We will find a way. We will find out who these people are.” Samara nodded slightly, biting her bottom lip. She looked down at her sheets for a few moments and mumbled out a question so softly that Charles had to strain to hear her.

“Can I…have a hug?” Charles nodded and sat himself on her bed gently. Samara leaned into him and he wrapped his arms around her. They stayed like this for a while, until they heard the door opening with familiar voices coming through and they looked in that direction.

“Samuel! Samara is fine…She’s just talking with her friends...” Samantha’s stern voice didn’t register with Samuel as he saw Samara and Charles locked in a hug. His shock quickly turned to anger as he marched up to Charles.

“Jones, get your hands off her!” Charles quickly removed his arms from Samara as she winced in pain from the abruptness of his actions. Samuel, catching sight of Samara’s reaction, quickly shifted himself to eye level with his daughter and looked on worriedly. She glared at her father.

“Dad! It’s not what you think it is. He was just reassuring me that everything would be OK.” Her eyes narrowed at her father. Samuel glared back at Samara with his arms crossed.

“No matter what the reason is, this type of behavior should not be between an employee and their boss. Charles, get out of here.” Charles was ready to get up to follow his boss’ orders when he felt a tug on his arm. Looking back, he looked at Sam holding his arm and shaking her head.

“Don’t leave, Charles. Dad, Mom WAS your receptionist all those years ago!” Samuel’s glare turned to shock, looking at Samara, then back at his wife. Samantha was shaking her head at him, making it clear it was not the time or place to start an argument.” A stony silence stretched on for what seemed like ages until Charles cleared his throat and spoke.

“Ahem…perhaps it would be best for me to take my leave...” Samara interrupted Charles with a shake of her head, pleading.

“No, Charles. Stay here, please.”


End file.
